October had us in deep self-reflection by exploring authenticity through text and art making. I posed the question: What are the words that describe who you are? And our friend and colleague, visual artist, Rene Gómez guided us in making our own self-portrait. The exercise sparked a lively exchange about how much easier it is to describe the people we know and love, and how when it comes to describing ourselves, we must dig a little deeper. We all helped each other as we tried to find the right shapes for our facial features or the perfect pen to draw our hair.

In the process of creating our self-portrait we had candid conversations about the way we see ourselves and the type of poetry that came from it was both healing and inspiring. We took time to notice our inner dialogue, how we see ourselves in relationship to place, community, and family. The exploration gave us insight into what we consider essential and what we want to work towards. In a time of wearing masks and dressing up it was great to make space for seeing ourselves as we are.

If you are looking for introspective time, try answering this prompt: What words describe your self-portrait? What makes you, you? After you have your words listed, try writing a poem that starts with the words: I am… (Want to share it? Post it and tag RILA!).

Café Recuerdos happens on the third Thursday of every month at 5:30 pm. Click here to find out more!

Our last Café Recuerdos will be held at the Broad Street Gateway Center | 1197 Broad St. Providence, RI 02905


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